2024 - Year in Review

Hey everyone! I hope everybody's enjoying the count down in the New Year with their family. I hope you guys will get better at whatever you said you wanted to do, whether chess, sports, or other aspects of life. I hope that you will be the best you can be! And now that I've said the good kindness stuff, time to do my Year in Review for chess, since CHESS.COM couldn't do it for 2024.

My year in 2023 shows 1078 games played, 553 won, and 63 day streaks as my longest streak. I solved 169 puzzles in addition to my highest ratings being 969 in rapid, 850 in blitz, and 900 in bullet.

In 2024, I had my best chess improvement year excelling in all aspects of chess, including tactics and openings. The hardest part was definitely time management. I could play decent, but my time situations were dismal and I would be winning with like 30 seconds in a RAPID GAME. But, now, I've jumped and this is going to be good when I start beating people more and more. 

New rating heights are as follows: 

Rapid - 1253

Blitz - 1187

Bullet - 1556

And for daily, it was 1223 last year, and now it's 1189 as the highest I reached this year. 

I'm very proud of myself in my personal life and as a chess player. For chess, I improved tremendously because of more puzzles and long game practice. I also began my mastery of speed chess journey with the 1556 bullet rating, which is not a great idea for chess development, but I'm a crazy 1200. What can I say?

One of my biggest accomplishments this year was not just reaching those new rating heights, but also developing a better mindset around chess. I stopped focusing on just the wins and losses, and began really appreciating the process. I’ve learned to analyze my games better, figure out what went wrong, and work to correct those mistakes. It's not always easy, but every game is a chance to grow, whether I win or lose and it may be long, but the journey and the self-acknowledgment that I did all that hard work is the greatest gift and is worth all this boring endgame studying.

Looking ahead to 2025, I have big goals. I want to continue pushing my ratings higher, especially in blitz and bullet. But more than that, I want to focus on deeper improvement, like improving my openings by developing a repertoire and studying more endgame techniques. This will be done through a daily process of rapid games. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me, and I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me along the way.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and giving me advice to make my blogs and gameplay better. Thanks to @KevinSmithIdiot for giving me the chance to improve my blog writing through BlogChamps and other competitions. Thanks to Chess.com workers for making gameplay possible. And a very special thanks to @VOB96 for helping me develop my blitz game and for guiding me through the blog writing process.

I wish nothing but the best for anyone reading and everyone of the 150 million on the site. Do well, be well, and Godspeed. 

So, here’s to another year of growth, improvement, and challenges! May we all reach new heights and become better at whatever we set our minds to, in chess and in life. Happy New Year, and let’s make 2025 our best year yet!

Sincerely, StageKing.